The work of the Cuentos de Mi Vida Storysharing Project is supported by the contribution of time and resources by a number of people and entities. Our Cuentos family project supporters are listed below, followed by their contribution:
Mark Thompson, ESOL Teacher at Hasty Elementary School
Words cannot adequately express what Mark Thompson's participation has meant to the project. Beloved by his students, Mark's answer to every idea was an enthusiastic, "Sure! We can do that!" As the project has progressed, Mark has played a larger role in planning the sessions, pitching ideas for activities, and leading activities during our writing days. He is a true partner in every way, and the project owes its success to his dedication to its mission and his love for his students.
Ms. Kerry Voytek,Cherokee County Teacher on Special Assignment, Migrant and ESOL
Kerry was formerly an ESOL teacher at Hasty Elementary, so she holds the school near to her heart. Kerry was a 2012 Cherokee County nominee for state teacher of the year, and in her current position she has been instrumental in providing funds for a bus to bring the student authors to KSU each semester. This field trip, which is usually the first time that the students have ever visited a university campus, has been described by many students each time as "the best day of my life."
Abby Hernandez, ESOL/IEL Teacher at Hasty Elementary School
Abby Hernandez, who completed her final student teaching at Hasty Elementary, was hired for the 2014-15 school year to start a newcomers' Intensive English Language program for newly arrived students who did not yet know English. Abby was eager to participate in the Cuentos project during her student teaching, and was finally able to join us once she was a full-time teacher. Her fluency in Spanish and her experience with digital stories has allowed the project to move more deeply in the direction of bilingual and digital storysharing.
Amanda Luper, ESOL Teacher at Hasty Elementary School
Amanda Luper was hired as an ESOL teacher at Hasty for the 2016-2017 school year. Amanda was asked to join the team by Mark Thompson. She eagerly took the opportunity to work with the project. Amanda supports the team by sharing her love of writing with students participating in cuentos. She encourages students to share their stories through writing and speaking.
Mr. Rodney Larrotta, Principal, Hasty Elementary School, Summer 2016 to present
Mr. Larrotta was new to the project in the summer of 2016, but he not only supported the aims of the project, he also attended meetings and offered great insights to the directions we might take the project. His contributions will be invaluable as we continue to develop.
Others who have contributed along the way...
Dr. Patricia Alvarez McHatton, Associate Dean for Teacher Education, University of Missouri/Kansas City
Patty served as chair of KSU's Inclusive Education Department, which houses the programs of special education and TESOL. Patty is responsible for the inception of the project in 2013, which resulted from a meeting with Hasty and Cherokee County representatives. The project was initially based on a project entitled Cuentos de Mi Familia for middle school Latino students in Florida. Patty's participation in that project led her to propose a similar project in Cherokee County. Patty invited Linda Shuford Evans, faculty member in TESOL, to join her as co-director. Once the project began, Patty stepped away and Linda assumed the directorship of the project. Patty contributed department funds to support the printing of the project storybooks and the students' lunches at the Commons.
Dr. Diana Gregory, Chair, Inclusive Education Dept, KSU
As new chair for the department, Diana has enthusiastically embraced the Cuentos project. She went out of her way to solicit the bookstore for contributions, which included the wildly popular KSU slap bracelets! She also contributed a KSU notebook and art supplies as give-aways for the students, and was on hand to welcome them for their May 2015 visit.
Mr. Izell McGruder, Principal, Hasty Elementary School, beginning of project until Summer 2016
Mr. McGruder welcomed KSU into his school with open arms and gave us the support to get the project started and help it to evolve.
Helen Maddox, Instructional Technology Coach, Bagwell College of Education, KSU
Helen has been instrumental in organizing the technology needed for the digital story demonstration during the Cuentos authors' visit to KSU. Helen asked lots of questions about what we were doing in the project, working with diverse learners, and strategies to address language and literacy development through technology. Helen worked to get all the computers up and running the Little Bird Tales software for the students' visit, and shared lots of amazing ideas for utilizing technology for language and literacy development as we move forward.
Matt Carr, Assistant Women's Soccer Coach, KSU
Matt volunteered his time to take the Hasty students on a tour of the KSU soccer stadium during their May 2015 visit. He enjoyed reading the stories that we sent to him, stories that were focused on the passion that the student authors have for soccer.
Once you are a member of the Cuentos de Mi Vida team, you are part of the Cuentos family forever!
Mark Thompson, ESOL Teacher at Hasty Elementary School
Words cannot adequately express what Mark Thompson's participation has meant to the project. Beloved by his students, Mark's answer to every idea was an enthusiastic, "Sure! We can do that!" As the project has progressed, Mark has played a larger role in planning the sessions, pitching ideas for activities, and leading activities during our writing days. He is a true partner in every way, and the project owes its success to his dedication to its mission and his love for his students.
Ms. Kerry Voytek,Cherokee County Teacher on Special Assignment, Migrant and ESOL
Kerry was formerly an ESOL teacher at Hasty Elementary, so she holds the school near to her heart. Kerry was a 2012 Cherokee County nominee for state teacher of the year, and in her current position she has been instrumental in providing funds for a bus to bring the student authors to KSU each semester. This field trip, which is usually the first time that the students have ever visited a university campus, has been described by many students each time as "the best day of my life."
Abby Hernandez, ESOL/IEL Teacher at Hasty Elementary School
Abby Hernandez, who completed her final student teaching at Hasty Elementary, was hired for the 2014-15 school year to start a newcomers' Intensive English Language program for newly arrived students who did not yet know English. Abby was eager to participate in the Cuentos project during her student teaching, and was finally able to join us once she was a full-time teacher. Her fluency in Spanish and her experience with digital stories has allowed the project to move more deeply in the direction of bilingual and digital storysharing.
Amanda Luper, ESOL Teacher at Hasty Elementary School
Amanda Luper was hired as an ESOL teacher at Hasty for the 2016-2017 school year. Amanda was asked to join the team by Mark Thompson. She eagerly took the opportunity to work with the project. Amanda supports the team by sharing her love of writing with students participating in cuentos. She encourages students to share their stories through writing and speaking.
Mr. Rodney Larrotta, Principal, Hasty Elementary School, Summer 2016 to present
Mr. Larrotta was new to the project in the summer of 2016, but he not only supported the aims of the project, he also attended meetings and offered great insights to the directions we might take the project. His contributions will be invaluable as we continue to develop.
Others who have contributed along the way...
Dr. Patricia Alvarez McHatton, Associate Dean for Teacher Education, University of Missouri/Kansas City
Patty served as chair of KSU's Inclusive Education Department, which houses the programs of special education and TESOL. Patty is responsible for the inception of the project in 2013, which resulted from a meeting with Hasty and Cherokee County representatives. The project was initially based on a project entitled Cuentos de Mi Familia for middle school Latino students in Florida. Patty's participation in that project led her to propose a similar project in Cherokee County. Patty invited Linda Shuford Evans, faculty member in TESOL, to join her as co-director. Once the project began, Patty stepped away and Linda assumed the directorship of the project. Patty contributed department funds to support the printing of the project storybooks and the students' lunches at the Commons.
Dr. Diana Gregory, Chair, Inclusive Education Dept, KSU
As new chair for the department, Diana has enthusiastically embraced the Cuentos project. She went out of her way to solicit the bookstore for contributions, which included the wildly popular KSU slap bracelets! She also contributed a KSU notebook and art supplies as give-aways for the students, and was on hand to welcome them for their May 2015 visit.
Mr. Izell McGruder, Principal, Hasty Elementary School, beginning of project until Summer 2016
Mr. McGruder welcomed KSU into his school with open arms and gave us the support to get the project started and help it to evolve.
Helen Maddox, Instructional Technology Coach, Bagwell College of Education, KSU
Helen has been instrumental in organizing the technology needed for the digital story demonstration during the Cuentos authors' visit to KSU. Helen asked lots of questions about what we were doing in the project, working with diverse learners, and strategies to address language and literacy development through technology. Helen worked to get all the computers up and running the Little Bird Tales software for the students' visit, and shared lots of amazing ideas for utilizing technology for language and literacy development as we move forward.
Matt Carr, Assistant Women's Soccer Coach, KSU
Matt volunteered his time to take the Hasty students on a tour of the KSU soccer stadium during their May 2015 visit. He enjoyed reading the stories that we sent to him, stories that were focused on the passion that the student authors have for soccer.
Once you are a member of the Cuentos de Mi Vida team, you are part of the Cuentos family forever!